Exclave vs Rethink: DNS + Firewall + VPN
Side-by-side comparison of two open source alternatives
Exclave
Exclave is a proxy client. Features: - Various proxy protocols - Group and subscription - Routing - Proxy chain Some supported protocols: - Shadowsocks (with SIP003 plugin support) - Shadowsocks 2022 (with SIP003 plugin support) - Trojan - Hysteria 2 - AnyTLS - mieru - NaïveProxy (as a standalone plugin) - TUIC - Juicity - VMess (with various optional sub-protocols) - VLESS (with various optional sub-protocols) - WireGuard (TCP and UDP only) - TrustTunnel (no ICMP echo support) - SSH proxy ("dynamic port forwarding") - HTTP CONNECT tunnel (HTTP/1.1, HTTP/1.1 with TLS, HTTP/2 and HTTP/3) - SOCKS4, SOCKS4A and SOCKS5 Although it can take charge of the traffic through the VPN service provided by the system, it is a TCP and UDP proxy used as a "pseudo-VPN" rather than a VPN. It is a fork of the archived Android proxy client SagerNet and uses a custom overhauled fork of V2Ray.
Rethink: DNS + Firewall + VPN
Say hello to a safer, transparent, and secure Android. VPN: Connects to multiple WireGuard VPNs of your choice. Safe: Reveals network activity of installed apps and lets you disable, uninstall, or firewall them. Secure: First line of defense against spyware, ransomware, and malware that steal personal information and takeover accounts. Protects from DNS manipulation typically employed to censor websites, social media, and messaging apps. Fast: DNS Servers deployed to 300+ locations world-wide to ensure your internet is as fast and highly available as it can be. Open: Open source and free of any trackers. ***Features*** Firewall: Prevent apps from connecting to the Internet. Block spyware, malware, ransomware and more. A firewall blocks any app connecting to the Internet over WiFi or Mobile data. Since most forms of surveillance require the data to be sent the network to a server, firewalling them effectively mitigates the threat (File Managers, Alarm Clock, Calculator are few such examples of apps that do not require any Internet access to function). The firewall feature uses Accessibility Service to detect and firewall background applications. Monitoring: Keep tabs on incoming and outgoing Internet traffic. If enabled, the connectivity logs are collected and analyzed. Automated reports flag previously unknown or suspicious connections, and reveal the extent of attempt to steal data by spyware networks. In our tests, around 60% of the traffic is flagged and reported as being initiated by known spyware. Logs generated are made available in near-real time to the user for their own analysis. WireGuard: Secure outgoing Internet traffic. The app uses fast, modern, light-weight, and secure WireGuard protocol to encrypt outgoing connections to any compatible VPN provider of your choice. Anti-censorship: The app encrypts your internet connection to Domain Name System (DNS) server run by Rethink with presence in our 300+ locations world-wide. DNS servers are the address book of the internet: A DNS server provides the exact addresses you need to visit a website or open an app. Data Monitor: Track per-app and per-connection Mobile or WiFi data usage.
| Feature | Exclave | Rethink: DNS + Firewall + VPN |
|---|---|---|
| License | GPL-3.0-only | Apache-2.0 |
| Install sources | F-DroidGitHub | F-DroidGitHub |
| Categories | VPNBrowser | Password ManagerVPNFirewallDev ToolsMessagingBrowser |
| Features | Ad-FreeOpen SourceNo Tracking | Ad-FreeOpen SourceNo Tracking |
| Platforms | Android | Android |
| Website | ||
| Source code |